I smiled brightly at Lucian.

“Anyway, how is it in there? It seems like a place that suits you perfectly.”

It suits you so well.

Why weren’t you in prison sooner? Hmm?

At my question, Lucian lowered his eyebrows in feigned pity.

“Not good. It’s too damp in here, and there’s an unpleasant smell.”

Then he slightly raised his eyes to look at me.

“Would it be better if you were here with me?”

I closed my eyes tightly and clasped my hands together.

“I’ll pray that you live there for the rest of your life.”

“Ahaha.”

That wasn’t meant to be funny.

Lucian burst into laughter again.

“You really always exceed my expectations.”

A face that seemed delighted to death.

Well, I didn’t expect him to show any remorse anyway.

To this man, this situation was just a game, nothing more, nothing less.

I gritted my teeth inwardly.

But let’s see how long you can keep laughing.

I took a small breath and opened my mouth.

“Just in case, let me tell you in advance. If you carelessly talk about the identity of the sacred relic during the trial, you won’t be safe either.”

We also know that you’ve made a contract with that sacred relic.

Fortunately, it seemed he understood my meaning as Lucian nodded.

“Yes. I know that well. And that’s not important to me anymore.”

As he said this, Lucian’s purple eyes glowed strangely.

What’s that? Has he lost his mind?

As I was feeling uneasy and rubbing my goosebump-covered arms, it happened.

“A-Ahem! Human. It’s been a while.”

Taro, who had been lying on the prison floor pretending to be a clock, greeted me.

“H-Human, are you still not interested in a new contract? Especially for you, I could—”

“Taro. I’m still alive and well, you know?”

“S-Silence! The dead sure talk a lot!”

“What about you, toy shop owner? Do you also wish for my death?”

What kind of question is that?

“Yes.”

Please die.

As I was cursing him with my eyes, Lucian laughed amused.

“Unfortunately, that won’t happen.”

While I was inwardly lamenting how truly tragic that was, he continued.

“Because I’ve found something I want more intensely.”

…What?

Why are you saying such ominous things while looking at me like that?

“Yes. I want something else.”

Ugh.

Trying to shake off the bad feeling, I coldly declared.

“What do you mean ‘want’? You’ll never get out of there for the rest of your life.”

Then, gripping the bars and looking straight into Lucian’s eyes, I raised the corners of my mouth.

“So stop dreaming futile dreams and wash your feet before going to bed, Marquis Berto.”

After glaring at Lucian one last time, I turned around to leave.

But then.

Whoosh-.

A cold prison breeze brushed through my hair.

…What?

When I reflexively turned around, my eyes met Lucian’s.

“Ah.”

Seeing Lucian’s wide-open eyes, my mind froze solid like a rock.

“Blue eyes.”

“…!”

At Lucian’s murmur, I finally came to my senses and hurriedly turned my head away, pulling my hood over my head.

For a brief moment, a heavy silence flowed.

Thump, thump.

All I could hear was the sound of my heart and…

“So it was you.”

Only a strangely excited voice coming from behind me.

***

Damn it. Damn it.

Why did this happen…

I couldn’t think of anything.

‘So it was you. It was you.’

The voice that had followed me as I fled the scene was still clear.

‘I didn’t know you were such an interesting child. Back then.’

Lucian knew me.

More precisely, he knew the original Rosemary before I possessed her.

I had heard from Serena Winter, my first client, about what had happened between Rosemary and Lucian.

Perhaps that was when Lucian became aware of Rosemary’s existence.

“My lady.”

As I was frantically trying to leave the temple, someone blocked my way.

When I raised my head while sweating coldly, there was Adriel looking down at me with a concerned expression.

“My lady, are you alright? You don’t look well.”

“……”

I blinked blankly while catching my breath.

Just then, Cynthia appeared from behind and called out to me.

“Miss Wit! Where are you rushing off to?”

Both of them focused their attention on me.

“Ah….”

I swallowed hard before answering.

“Well, I think I need to go home for a bit.”

“What? Miss Wit, you’re leaving now? We were supposed to have a meeting today to prepare for Marquis Berto’s trial.”

That was… today?

For a moment, I felt a headache coming on and my body growing cold.

I need to get home quickly before Lucian reveals my identity…

When I realized that he also knew about my contract with Wit, chills ran down my spine.

“Please spare us a moment. We need Miss Wit’s help to ensure our victory in the trial.”

Like my urgent feelings, Cynthia’s voice buzzed in my ears.

“Miss Wit?”

I feel… I don’t feel well.

“Ah, wait….”

“My lady, where are you feeling unwell?”

Suddenly my vision began to spin.

I grabbed onto anything I could to avoid falling.

“My lady, my lady!”

My vision gradually darkened, and sounds became distant.

Ah, really. I don’t have time for this.

In my fading consciousness, I thought.

Nothing ever goes right, does it?

***

When I regained consciousness, a day had passed.

When I opened my eyes, Adriel’s face came into view.

“Where am I… ah…!”

After blinking my eyes slowly, I belatedly realized the situation and hurriedly tried to sit up.

“You shouldn’t move yet. Please lie down.”

However, Adriel’s hand blocked me, and I was made to lie back down on the bed.

When I demanded an explanation, Adriel made a somewhat apologetic face.

“It was an urgent situation, so there was no choice.”

He said that right after I collapsed, the Saintess immediately lifted my robe to check my condition.

Fortunately, the diagnosis was that I had a slight fever but no serious illness, so Adriel put my robe back on me and moved me to a room in the temple. So in the end….

“You don’t need to worry. No one except the Saintess saw your face.”

Which meant that Cynthia had seen my face.

“Haah….”

I don’t know anymore.

Cynthia. Right. Cynthia should be fine.

I felt resigned now.

“Where is my robe?”

Adriel persistently insisted that I should recover more before leaving, but he backed down in the face of my stubbornness.

After weakly putting on my robe and barely managing to stop him from following me, I left the room thinking:

I don’t know if this is fortunate. The temple was quiet, and my head was still attached to my body.

This meant that Lucian hadn’t talked about me while I was unconscious, right?